Pulses demand policy change

Pulses hold the key to tackle widespread undernourishment, especially protein malnutrition, in India. Being rich in protein and good quality fibres, these leguminous grains make healthy and balanced food. Besides, they contain most of the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy living. Going by the claims made by the Dubai-headquartered Global Pulse Confederation, pulses can help reduce blood cholesterol and trim blood sugar, the two major factors in combating diabetes and heart ailments. Replacement of animal proteins with that of pulses can help limit the intake of saturated fats and increase that of health-promoting fibres.

This aside, pulses are also said to be useful in preventing certain cancers because of their fibre, mineral and amino acid contents. A research paper published in the March 2017 issue of “Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences” (one of the oldest published scientific journals of the US) maintains that the proteins in pulses and cereals are complementary — together, they provide adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids.

With such inherent virtues, pulses merit inclusion into food and nutrition related strategies and programmes which are now focused primarily on cereals. This would help mitigate malnutrition, improve people’s health and raise India’s ranking in the global hunger index which is fairly low at present. But this can be done only if the indigenous availability of pulses rises substantially because reliance on imports for this purpose can be dicey.

The production of pulses has touched an all-time high of 22.14 million tonnes in 2016-17, registering an unprecedented surge of nearly 35 per cent over the previous year’s 16.35 million tonnes. But it still falls short of the coveted self-sufficiency mark which, according to the agriculture ministry’s estimate, is around 23.5 to 24 million tonnes. The Indian Council of Medical Research has recommended the pulses intake of around 52 grams per head per day for healthy life. This translates to an annual requirement of around 28 million tonnes, which is far higher than the farm ministry’s projection. The requirement of pulses is, in any case, set to swell steadily considering that their demand is even now outpacing the growth in population.

An important point to note in the context of achieving self-sufficiency in pulses is that even the last year’s robust output of 22.14 million tonnes may be difficult to sustain under the present policy environment. The one-time upswing of that order was largely the result of expansion of cropped area in response to exceptionally high prices last year and salubrious weather in both kharif and rabi seasons. With dramatic change in the circumstances, especially the meltdown in prices, which have dipped below the minimum support price levels for most pulses, the farmers may no longer be as keen to grow more pulses as they were last year. Besides, the government’s misjudged and ill-timed market interventions for creating the buffer stock of pulses have worsened the matters from the standpoint of both producers and consumers. The government agencies began procuring pulses when the prices were already high, thus, pushing them up further to the detriment of consumers. And now when the prices have nosedived, thanks to ample supplies, these agencies have begun to offload their holdings, thus, hurting the interests of the producers.

Fortunately, it is only difficult, but not impossible, to raise pulses output perceptibly with the technologies that are already available if favourable policies are put in place. Bridging the yield gap between the high and low yielding regions, estimated at nearly 34 per cent, is the best and easiest way to do so. And, if the average domestic yield of pulses can be elevated from the present around 700 kg per hectare to 1,300 kg in neighbouring Myanmar or 2,200 kg in Canada, the country can be a net exporter of these staple grains. For this, the cultivators of irrigated land would need to be incentivised to squeeze in quick-growing pulses in their cropping systems. But assurance of remunerative returns is a prerequisite for the success of any strategy to boost pulses output.

surinder.sud@gmail.com